Residents in Lurie Terrace reacted with shock Sunday after learning about the homicide of a neighbor they described as quiet and gentle.

Mark PalingCourtesy of WCSO

David Maurer, 71, was found dead in his apartment at the Lurie Terrace senior community in Ann Arbor on Dec. 1. Three men were arraigned on murder and robbery charges Sunday and are now held at the Washtenaw County Jail without bond.

Shelley Ripley lives down the hall from Maurer's apartment and said she found out Sunday his death was being treated as a homicide. She said she didn’t know Maurer well, but he impressed her as quiet and friendly in their interactions.

“He was a gentleman and a gentle man,” she said.

Police say Mark Paling, Ricky Ranger and Richard Thompson are responsible for the 71-year-old man’s death. It’s believed Maurer died on Nov. 23 in his apartment, 600 W. Huron St.

Rikky RangerCourtesy of WCSO

Paling, 19 of Melvindale; Ranger, 20 of Melvindale; and Thompson, 19 of Flat Rock, were known to Maurer. They are accused of stealing multiple items from Maurer’s residence at the time of his death, including a computer, credit cards, a controlled substance, a cellphone, money, a wallet and a firearm.

The three men are charged with open murder, unarmed robbery, conspiracy to commit unarmed robbery, larceny in a building and larceny of a firearm. If convicted, they face life in prison. They are all due in court for a preliminary exam at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 26 at the 14A-1 District Court.

Details on the incident are still scant. A police statement said Maurer was found at 7:30 p.m. Dec. 1. Police officials reached on Sunday declined to say when investigators started treating his death as a homicide and did not release the circumstances of death Sunday.

Richard ThompsonCourtesy of WCSO

Ripley and another one of Maurer’s neighbors expressed shock at a violent crime happening just a few doors away.

“You never think it’s going to happen anywhere near where you live,” Ripley said.

Robert Pardon, who also lives on the same floor, said he doesn’t know anything about the case but was caught off guard by the news.

“It was totally a surprise,” he said.

Maurer was the owner of Ann Arbor Amusement Inc., which he started in 1980, according to online records.

Ripley said she knew Maurer had lived at Lurie Terrace longer than she has, and she believed he’d lived there for quite a few years. She said he mostly kept to himself but was always friendly with whomever he met.

She said she was glad to hear there had been arrests made and charges filed in the case.

“It’s really sad, he was a very nice man,” she said.

Kyle Feldscher covers cops and courts for The Ann Arbor News. He can be reached at kylefeldscher@mlive.com or you can follow him on Twitter. Find all Washtenaw County crime stories here.